More Than WE Know

In yesterday’s post I discussed the challenge of taking a break from working. Entrepreneurs are prone to becoming workaholics, especially when we have found something that fuels our passion.

But I heard back from several of you that your challenge lies in the opposite direction - you have trouble staying motivated.  Sure, you still love the idea of your business, but you tend to avoid some of the less appealing aspects.  Items that are less interesting or downright unsettling keep dropping to the bottom of your to-do list. Before you realize it, it’s been weeks since you balanced your checkbook, sent out a follow-up invoice, made a sales call, or pitched a workshop.

We even find ourselves putting off working on the aspects of the business that we do like. Maybe you love to create new designs or write articles or develop workshops. Even so, we put off these activities because we fear that our end product won’t be “good enough”.  We prefer the vision we have in our mind to the product we create with our hands.

The common theme between both challenges: working too much or working too little is balance; We need to find the right proportion of work in our daily lives.

One way to do this is to put more structure around our enterprises:

• establish work hours - either specific hours that you work (ex. 8 to 3) or a specific amount of hours (ex. 7 hours per day)
• establish goals for the week - make a list on Sunday of all the things you will get done the following week and by when 
• partner with an accountability buddy - check in, in the morning to let them know what you plan to accomplish during the day and then check in, in the evening to let them know whether or not you succeeded

 I know that part of the reason you went into business for yourself is because you wanted the schedule flexibility that comes with it.  But sometimes, we need structure and consistency in order to focus our minds and our actions.  If we think we have all the time in the world to get something done - it may never get done.  Limits drive action; actions drive results.

So, between now and next Monday, decide what you are going to accomplish next week and the hours in which you are going to get it done.  Whether your goal is to get more done or to work fewer hours, establishing an action plan will help.

Once you have an action plan, find an accountability buddy within your network or feel free to use this post. Just write in the comment section what your goals are and when you will achieve them and then let me know at the end of the week how you have done.  I look forward to hearing from you.

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I’m writing this post on the train heading into NY. I spent Labor Day weekend at our house on the lake in Connecticut.  I really tried to get into the spirit of Labor Day this year and did my best to refrain from working.  My husband and I went kayaking, and swimming, planted fall flowers and had an “end of summer” picnic with our neighbors.   All in all, a pretty respectable observance of the “working (wo)man’s” holiday.  But I have to admit that my mind repeatedly wandered to challenges in my business, and more than once I picked up my laptop to respond to an email or check my blogstats.

Labor day was originally conceived to give a break to the average worker.  I guess it was assumed that management had enough time off; this one was for the laborer. Work life has changed a lot since 1882; it is no longer as easy to tell when we are working and when we are not; it is also not as easy to tell who is the laborer and who is management, especially in regards to entrepreneurs.

In the 19th century, you were either working, or you weren’t.  In the factory, in the fields, in the store, in the mines  - working; anything else - not.  But in the 21st century, we take our jobs with us - in the forms of Blackberries, Treos, cell phones, pagers, laptops, wi-fi connections and satellite wireless cards.  We can always be making one more call, checking in with one more client  or writing one more article.  We can be reached 24×7, 365 days per year and even more, it’s harder to turn our minds off of the problems and challenges of our “knowledge work” . 

As entrepreneurs, we fall somewhere in the murky realm between laborers and management.  In theory, we are managment, even leaders - as we develop the strategies to design and market our products and services. But in many cases, we are also the laborers - producing the products, packaging the merchandise, fulfilling the orders, making the sales calls, and setting the appointments. 

Many of us have difficulty taking time off - our businesses depend on our efforts, afterall. And for many of us, our work is also our passion, which means that sometimes the thing that feels most fun is actually - more work!

While all work and no play will make Jack a dull boy, it will make Jill a burned out entrepreneur.  As hard as it is, we all  need to take time for ourselves. We need to get away from the constant, everyday demands of our business.  And the irony is that if we do, we’ll return with greater perspective, greater passion, greater creativity and greater energy than if we had continued working straight through.

Most of us have businesses that our great-grandparents would not be able to recognize or understand.  The world has changed dramatically since they first established Labor Day. But their rationale and their wisdom still holds true - every so often, we need to take a day off from our work. What looks like doing nothing - is really doing something.  We are giving ourselves a chance to gain perspective, to re-energize and to refuel. 

How did you spend your Labor Day? Are you able to shut off your business now and then? I’d love to hear your secrets - please share below.

I just learned about a great new social networking site exclusively for women business owners and “business owner wannabes”! It’s called MyWomanOwnedBusiness.com. It’s the brainchild of Kimberly Porrazzo, editor of OC Metro magazine. 

The site is great in that it combines the personalizaition and individual creativity of MySpace with the business networking focus of LinkedIn. The site just launched and membership is growing rapidly.

In her site profile, Kimberly explains her motivation for starting the site:   

“I attended meetings of the Orange County chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO; www.nawbo-oc.org). I couldn’t help but be impressed by the willingness of women to share ideas about business with each other, even in a competitive situation.

I wanted to create a space where women could come together to ask questions of one another in a nonthreatening atmosphere; a place where like-minded women could ask for advice about a business situation or problem, for suggestions on how to grow their business - and, a place to shout out their successes in order to inspire other women. ”

I especially loved the part about “shouting out our successes in order to inspire other women”!  What a great vision of support.

I am particularly excited for readers of MoreThanWEKnow because I think this site will be a great opportunity for low-risk networking for shy and introverted entrepreneurs who are less comfortable with traditional networking venues.  What’s even better is that the site is intended to help both women who already have a business and women who are considering starting one.

Although in its early stages, it appears that there will be a wide geographic distribution as well as a diversity of business ventures.  This will enable all participants to develop a broader, more varied network. 

As we’ve discussed previously, there are approximately 10 million women-owned businesses in the United States. The potential network that Kimberly’s site is tapping into is huge.

So, jump over to her site, take 5 minutes to set up a profile, and don’t forget to invite me as a friend - I’ll be waiting to hear from you!!  

 (picture from www.acomplaintfreeworld.org)

Last Saturday, my friend Sarah gave me a purple elastic band, with the words “A Complaint Free World” printed on it.  She said that along with the band came a challenge to refrain from complaining for 21 days (the amount of time it takes to ingrain a new habit).  She said that each time I slipped up and complained, I needed to move the band to my other wrist and start counting the 21 days all over again. 

I eagerly accepted the band because I thought it was a great idea.  I loved the idea of reducing the negative energy and free-floating complaining in the world.  I must admit, I took the band a bit smugly. I put it on my left wrist, confident that it would stay there for the entire 21 days.  I think of myself as a very positive person, who is very grateful for the life I lead. I figured it would be no problem for me to go a mere 3 weeks without complaining.

So, I got the band on Saturday afternoon and put it on my left wrist.

Saturday evening - Going back to my hotel after my coaching class, I had to take a NY subway downtown in suffocating heat. Due to some construction, the express trains were running local and making all the stops.  Moved the band to my right wrist.

Sunday - Took the final exam for my coaching class. What I thought was going to be a two-hour short answer test with a single essay question, turned out to be closer to a two-hour all essay test.  Moved the band back to my left wrist.

Monday - Caught a flight from NY to Phoenix. Sat on the runway for 45 minutes waiting to take off.  I’d already been away from my husband all week when I was in NY and he was in Connecticut; now I was going further away.  Moved the band back to my right wrist.

Tuesday - Discovered the water heater in my apartment in Phoenix was broken. Took a cold shower. Moved the band back to my left wrist.

Wednesday - Despite a note from the maintenance man that he had repaired my water heater, there was still no hot water. Washed my hair in cold water. Moved the band back to my right wrist.

Thursday -  Problems with my laptop caused me to spend 15 minutes searching for a phone number for “customer service” - and then to sit on hold waiting to talk to a human being for another 25 minutes. Moved the band back to my left wrist.

Friday - Catching the red-eye from Phoenix to NY and then taking the first morning  train from Grand Central to Connecticut - might as well go ahead and move the band over to my right wrist now.

So, what did I learn in the first 7 days of my grand experiment?

I could say that this week has been worse than usual, but that wouldn’t be true.  Every week, every day, has incidents that push us to complain.  The truth is that I complain more than I realize; the band just made me more conscious of it.

The problem is that complaining is negative energy.  As we discussed in yesterday’s post, people are attracted to positive energy and repelled by negative energy. So while I may get momentary relief from complaining about my situation, I am actually doing myself more harm than good. The people I am trying to connect with, will actually eventually start to avoid me.

This is important for the would-be networker to realize. While it is important to connect with people with words and passion, those connections should be positive in order to be nurturing and sustainable. 

There are over 2 million purple bands in circulation.  If you would like one of your own, order here. They’re free although they accept donations to cover expenses.  But be forewarned - due to the high demand the bands are taking currently 12 weeks to be delivered.

Once you get the band, see how long it takes you to go 21 straight days without a complaint. Wear your band to your next networking event and use it as an icebreaker. Tell the people you meet about your 21 day project - I’m sure they’ll be interested - but whatever you do -  don’t complain about it!!

What do you think of this project? Would you take the challenge? Or do you think that complaining serves a purpose?

 (photo by Linda Van Dijk)

I read a fantastic post this morning written by Marilyn Suttle.  Marilyn is an expert in customer service. She co-writes the blog, LoveThemUp.com.  In her post Marilyn tells about a truly terrible day that was turned around by the positive energy exhibited by a waiter at a Big Boy restaurant.  The waiter was so sincerely happy and enthusiastic that it was contagious. Along with their chocolate malts, Marilyn and her husband got an invigorating shot of energy to take back home with them.

I loved this story because it illustrates how energy can be literally transferred from one person to another. 

Stop for a moment and think of a person who makes you feel good just by being around them. If you are drawing a blank, think of the last time you were around a two or three year old child.  Even if the child was a complete stranger in a restaurant or an airport, you were probably drawn to their energy and their delight in the world around them.  This type of sincere enthusiasm is compelling.  We find ourselves thinking that “we want what they’re having”.  

Contrast that feeling to the one we get when someone is pretending to be friendly, as in the stereotype of the “used car salesman”.  Even though he or she acts friendly, we can sense that it is forced and insincere. This contradiction makes us uncomfortable. Instead of being drawn closer, we are repelled.   

What does this mean to us in our networking?

First, it is important to remember that people are drawn not just to what we say, but to how we say it. Our energy speaks volumes before we even say a word.  This can be a challenge for the majority of us who are uncomfortable in networking situations.  If we are feeling anxious, scared, shy or depressed, others will sense that and have a tendency to steer clear. This, of course,  will make us more anxious, scared, shy or depressed, causing them to avoid us even more, and so on, and so on.

So, what is the nervous networker to do?

First, take a deep breath.  Consider that this can actually be good news for those of us who feel tongue-tied in groups.  It means that people will remember less about what you actually said, and more about how you made them feel.    That takes some of the pressure off of “saying the right thing”.

It also means that it is extra important to tap into our positive energy and passion. Even for the most nervous among us, there are ways to do that:

1) Talk about subjects you feel passionate about  - whether it’s the feedback you got from a customer, your belief in how your service can help the world, or the satisfaction you are feeling from knowing you are building a business that really reflects your values, your enthusiasm will come across in your voice and your face.

2) Network while volunteering for a worthwhile cause - again it’s all about the passion and the energy. Don’t get involved in something because you think “you should”.  Get involved in something that you would be interested in doing even if you don’t meet anyone to network with.  And then, remember to speak about it with passion the next time you’re at a more traditional networking event.

3) Network while pursuing your hobby - Whether it is quiliting or kayaking, a book club or a wine tasting, your enthusiasm is going to come through. When you are doing something you enjoy, your confidence and your energy incease.  You will be more open to others and they will be more receptive to you.

Increasing the energy and enthusiasm in your life doesn’t just benefit the people around you. It benefits you!   You will feel more passion and purpose in life, and other people will in turn be more drawn to you, increasing your passion and purpose even more!

Tell me about what you feel passionate about - how do you incorporate opportunities to feel energetic into your daily lives?